a collection of words about God and life and art and baseball and football and hope and my family and my ministry and music and the immense joy in each moment of all of it. it's a record of being human. welcome.

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steelers continue pattern, move to 4-3.

win, lose, win, lose, win, lose. can you guess what comes next in the pattern?

on monday night the steelers held off the equally desperate houston texans, using one of the most insane and exciting 3 minutes of football i've ever seen. looking lackluster (and pretty much just plain awful) through most of the first half, things turned with a few minutes to go in the first half, with a field goal, a sack, a touchdown pass, and then two turnovers inside the 10 yard line, putting the steelers in goal-to-go situations, which they were able to capitalize on.

part of that flurry included a crazy little gadget play in which ben tossed to antonio brown for an apparent reverse, only to have antonio reverse his field and throw left-handed to a crossing lance moore (it was a well-thrown accurate pass), while ben threw a block and j.j. watt tried to chase antonio down. crazy play, but it gave the steelers a touchdown in the red zone, which has been a rarity, so i liked the call.

bell was great, as usual. running downhill...catching passes out of the backfield....making guys miss....he just makes plays everytime he is on the field. very impressed with the season this guy is having.

it was great to see rookie martavis bryant make his nfl debut, and catch a touchdown pass, too! let's hope he becomes a regular part of the offense.

ben was solid. didn't make any terrible mistakes (although i wish he wouldn't shed that ball so fast on some of those sacks...,tuck it in, ben!), and he threw some nice passes when necesssary.

i loved seeing keisel make a great play, and if there was some luck involved, it was about time because the guy has been playing his heart out over these first seven games, and showing the young guys how its done. i see you, brett keisel, being a leader by example, and laying it all out there on the line. and i see you and your incredible beard returning an interception like some crazed lumberjack. i wave my terrible towel in your general direction.

and i see you, too. j.j. watt. i heard john gruden say that we would probably be inducting you into the pro football hall of fame by the end of the game. and then i saw you not really get much done. you did have one sack, and i will admit that that one loose ball rolled to you, but then what happened? it was like you disappeared? did our backup right tackle stymie you the rest of the night? did you get tired? was it the magic of the terrible towel, holding your superhuman powers in check? whatever it was, you seemed slower and stiffer than (nationally, sickeningly) advertised. maybe you were just having a bad night, and, if so, i appreciate your timing. in any case, thank you for not destroying our quarterback, and for helping our offensive line gain some confidence. now, please circle december 21st on your calendar, and pin your ears back to get that flacco guy. thank you very much.

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